by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
Many things about what we often call the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in Luke 16 give us trouble. I’m sure you could ask all kinds of questions I couldn’t answer. However, Jesus’s statement in Luke 16:9 explains His point, even if it doesn’t answer every question we have about the story.<\/p>\n
As we walk this life, we are stewards. We steward God’s great blessings. Nothing we have is our own. It all belongs to God. The question is whether we are exercising our stewardship shrewdly, wisely, and sensibly. Jesus used a dishonest or unrighteous steward as His example. However, even though he was dishonest and unrighteous, he was shrewd.<\/p>\n
Jesus explained that the people of the world are often more shrewd than the sons of light are. In saying this, he recalled the Matthew 10:16 instruction to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves<\/em>.” “Wise” here translates the same word as “shrewd” in Luke 16:8. We understand being innocent as doves, but shrewd as serpents? That doesn’t seem right.<\/p>\n We are not to be as unrighteous or dishonest as those in the world might be, but we are to be as shrewd. That is, we are to use the stewardship God has given us wisely. Then He explains the goal of using our stewardship wisely.<\/p>\n “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings<\/em>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That is, use the world’s wealth to serve others so they enjoy God’s eternal dwellings. With such shrewdness, they will welcome us into the eternal dwellings when our time of stewardship ends.<\/p>\n This parable and Jesus’s explanation drive home an important point. What we do in this life goes beyond this life. The way we use our money. The way we treat other people. All of it ripples into eternity. Our lives and our influence do not end with our biological deaths.<\/p>\n Basically, Jesus’s point is that folks prepare a lot better for retirement than for eternity. The dishonest manager only thought about retirement. If we only use our money to prepare for retirement, we are no better off than the dishonest and unrighteous of the world. We need to use our money and every other blessing we have in this life to prepare for eternity. More than that, to help others prepare for eternity so they can welcome us into the eternal dwellings. That will be a meaningful life.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Edwin Crozier Many things about what we often call the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in Luke 16 give us trouble. I’m sure you could ask all kinds of questions I couldn’t answer. However, Jesus’s statement in Luke 16:9 explains His point, even if it doesn’t answer every question we have about the story.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[46,1621,691],"class_list":["post-98288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-heaven","tag-prepared","tag-stewards"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3958,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward-in-luke-161-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":98288,"position":0},"title":"Can you explain the Parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16:1-9?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was reading Luke 16 last night and am having some trouble comprehending what Jesus meant when He said in verse 8 and 9, \"For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7634,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward\/","url_meta":{"origin":98288,"position":1},"title":"The Parable of the Unjust Steward","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Luke 16:1-13 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many find this parable confusing because of the praise of the lord in verse 8. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How is it that an unfaithful steward, about to be relieved of his position, gains praise from his employer when he ends his career stealing more from him? II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9546,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-the-notes-on-the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward\/","url_meta":{"origin":98288,"position":2},"title":"Thank you for the notes on the Parable of the Unjust Steward","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read your notes on the\u00a0Parable of the Unjust Steward. Thank you! I looked at many sites and thought they didn't quite grasp it. I am using this story at a maximum-security institution to share with these guys how to be shrewd and cunning for the Lord and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-will-the-sabbath-end\/","url_meta":{"origin":98288,"position":3},"title":"When will the Sabbath end?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jeff, I have a quick question. Is my understanding correct in saying that in Amos 8:5 the question is asked when will the Sabbath be past (end)? A few verses later (Amos 8:9-10) God answers the question: Sundown at noon darkness in broad daylight mourning (death) of an only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-really-enjoyed-your-material-on-the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward\/","url_meta":{"origin":98288,"position":4},"title":"I really enjoyed your material on the Parable of the Unjust Steward","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In preparing for a home study, I was looking for a further explanation of the parable about the unjust steward\u00a0found in Luke 16. Really enjoyed reading your material on this. Answer: I'm glad you found the material useful.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85360,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/be-ready\/","url_meta":{"origin":98288,"position":5},"title":"Be Ready","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores In Luke 12, Jesus stresses to His disciples their need for readiness in three parables. In the first, He tells of servants who await their master's return from a wedding feast. The Lord says, \"Be like them\" (Luke 12:36). In the second, He tells of a homeowner\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}